 Castro praises brother for Russia bomber issue
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-25 07:32 Ailing Fidel Castro said on Wednesday that Cuba's president was right to adopt a "dignified silence" over a Moscow newspaper report that Russia may station nuclear bombers on the island, and said Cuba doesn't owe any explanation to Washington about the story. In a brief, cryptic essay posted on a government website on Wednesday night, the 81-year-old former president neither confirmed nor denied the Monday report in Izvestia newspaper. Moscow is angry about US plans for missile-defense sites in eastern Europe and Izvestia cited a "highly placed" military aviation source as saying, "While they are deploying the anti-missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic, our long-range strategic aircraft already will be landing in Cuba." Izvestia said this apparently refers to long-range nuclear-capable bombers. Izvestia points out that there would have to be a political decision on landing bombers in Cuba, and quoted the unnamed source as saying there have been such discussions. A US State Department spokesman said on Tuesday that American officials had received no official confirmation from the Russian government about the newspaper report, and he was unaware of any US efforts to directly contact Moscow about it. Despite Cuba's one-time alliance with the former Soviet Union, it seems unlikely that Raul Castro would allow Russian bombers on the island and risk the ire of the US government. Soviet nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba during the height of the Cold War pushed the world to the brink of nuclear conflict on Oct 22, 1962, after President John F. Kennedy announced their presence to the world. After a tense week of diplomacy, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev removed them. Agencies (China Daily 07/25/2008 page12) |
